Prepare for a wondrous celestial event on Saturday as a rare solar eclipse is expected to be visible in the sky to millions of people.
Nicknamed a ‘ring of fire’ because the sun's light will shine out around the dark shadow of the moon, the solar eclipse is set to take place on the morning of October 14.
While there is a total eclipse expected in April 2024, tomorrow’s particular eclipse is so rare that there won’t be another one until 2046.
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With the right preparation and easy-to-find equipment, if you are lucky enough to be in one of the areas on the globe where the event is visible, you too can marvel at the cosmic wonder.
NASA Research and Analysis Heliophysics Division Lead Patrick Koehn spoke to ABC7 News and explained the properties of the eclipse set to darken the skies on Saturday.
“A solar eclipse happens when the moon moves directly between the earth and the sun,” he said.
“With an annular eclipse, the moon is a little bit farther away than it ordinarily might be. So, it doesn't quite cover the entire disc of the sun and it leaves this ring shape."
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It will be visible in the skies over North, Central and South America, with NASA running a live stream to share views from Albuquerque, New Mexico; Kirbyville, Texas; and White Sands, New Mexico.
The solar eclipse will begin at 12:13pm ET, at which time it will pass from the Oregon coast to Texas’ Gulf Coast, appearing in Oregon, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Texas.
As the sun will still be partially visible, the safest way to view the eclipse is through using special glasses or a pinhole cameras. It is important to note that regular sunglasses do not provide enough protection and looking at the eclipse without adequate protection can cause severe eye damage.
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ABC7 News’ Meteorologist Drew Tuma also gave a breakdown on how to make a pinhole camera from household items.
“It's a really simple process. All you need was a cereal box, a white piece of paper and some aluminum foil,” he said.
“So, once again, once you have your viewing device all done, you're going to want to put your back towards the sun, put your eye in one hole and watch as the sun goes through the other hole.”
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NASA has created an interactive eclipse tracker with details about the best areas to watch the event take place in full, though people in the remaining states of the continental US might be in with a chance of seeing a partial solar eclipse, where only part of the sun is covered by the moon, if weather conditions allow.
Gerrard Kaonga